Recent Archaeological Finds

[Soldier4Christ]

Diving into history in King Herod's harbor

CAESAREA, Israel (Reuters) - Above the glistening waves off the shores of the Israeli city of Caesarea, a group of scuba divers suit up to begin their descent into history.

As they slowly sink underwater, the light disperses to reveal remnants of what experts say was one of the biggest and most sophisticated sea ports of the Roman Empire.

After around 2,000 years, the ancient harbor is again open for business. The tourism business, that is.

Israeli and North American archeologists discovered the ruins some 40 years ago and, since last year, have worked to preserve the remnants, some of which once rested above the surface, to create Israel's first underwater archeological museum.

Metal poles with numbered signs mark 36 exhibits lying about 20 feet below the Mediterranean's surface over an area of 783,000 square feet.

Among the artifacts are remains of a sunken Roman vessel, giant anchors, loading piers, marble and granite columns and an ancient breakwater.

With waterproof maps and an instructor to guide them, scuba divers can maneuver through the larger artifacts by following ropes tied between the poles placed in the sea bed. Snorkelers can view remnants found in more shallow waters.

A ticket costs 12 shekels (about $2.50), not including the rental of equipment.

"The visibility was low but that just made it more dramatic," said Boaz Gross, a 22-year-old student. "You feel like you're in an ancient atmosphere and you feel the depth of the history of the place."

However, Yossi Kwart, a 25-year-old student, said strong currents put a damper on his dive.

"The fact that the dive was very difficult took away from some of the fun," he said.

ROMAN HISTORY

The Romans conquered Caesarea in 63 BC. King Herod named the port city in 22 BC to honor his patron Caesar Augustus and commissioned the building of the harbor, as well as other major projects, the remains of which are now on display.

The city later became the Roman provincial capital of Judea, a region which now encompasses Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Sarah Arenson, a maritime historian involved in the project, said the ancient harbor first opened in 10 BC and served for more than a century as the main gateway for goods such as exotic spices, textiles, dyes and cosmetics shipped to the Roman Empire from places as distant as the Far East.

"It probably overshadowed the old and very important ports of the eastern Mediterranean," Arenson said. "Caesarea eclipsed these old famous harbors in economic importance and splendor."

The port's architecture was also among the most sophisticated in the known world at the time, she said.

The materials used included marble, granite and wood, as well as an innovative ingredient at the time -- pozzolana, a kind of cement made from volcanic ash imported from Italy.

"Augustus marked the start of the 'Vox Romana', the unique political and economic entity that was the Roman Empire at the time," Arenson said, adding that after a Jewish rebellion from 66-70 AD, business in Judea declined and the port was less prosperous.

INNOVATIVE CONSTRUCTION

Archeologists were surprised to discover that the harbor was built in only 12 years, Arenson said.

"Even today, building a harbor this size would (take) about the same time," she said. "To think (Herod) did it with his technology in that time; it probably required many thousands of people working in coordination."

Experts believe workers built artificial islands from which they could later drop blocks onto the sea floor to create a solid platform for the port's breakwater.

A minor wall was constructed around the main breakwater to protect it during construction -- a tactic Herod used in the building of Jerusalem's Second Temple, destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.

Many experts believe the port's foundations were eventually smashed by erosion from earthquakes in a region that lies on a major fault-line. Others blame tidal waves.

Several countries boast underwater archeological exhibits, like a palace in Egypt's Alexandria, which historians believe was used by Cleopatra. Arenson said the Caesarea project is the world's first public underwater sea port exhibit.

Avi Baz, a diving instructor, said hundreds of people had already visited the underwater exhibit, a 40- to 50-minute dive. He predicts numbers will only grow.

"Divers in general have a tendency to look for new sites, new adventures, new thrills," he said.

[Soldier4Christ]

In biblical lore, Edom was the implacable adversary and menacing neighbor of the Israelites. The Edomites lived south of the Dead Sea and east of the desolate rift valley known as Wadi Arabah, and from time to time they had to be dealt with by force, notably by the likes of Kings David and Solomon.

Today, the Edomites are again in the thick of combat — of the scholarly kind. The conflict is heated and protracted, as is often the case with issues related to the reliability of the Bible as history.

Chronology is at the crux of the debate. Exactly when did the nomadic tribes of Edom become an organized society with the might to threaten Israel? Were David and Solomon really kings of a state with growing power in the 10th century B.C.? Had writers of the Bible magnified the stature of the two societies at such an early time in history?

An international team of archaeologists has recorded radiocarbon dates that they say show the tribes of Edom may have indeed come together in a cohesive society as early as the 12th century B.C., certainly by the 10th. The evidence was found in the ruins of a large copper-processing center and fortress at Khirbat en-Nahas, in the lowlands of what was Edom and is now part of Jordan.

Thomas E. Levy, a leader of the excavations, said in an interview last week that the findings there and at abandoned mines elsewhere in the region demonstrated that the Edomites had developed a complex state much earlier than previously thought.

Dr. Levy, an archaeologist at the University of California, San Diego, said the research had yielded not only the first high-precision dates in the region, but also such telling artifacts as scarabs, ceramics, metal arrowheads, hammers, grinding stones and slag heaps. Radiocarbon analysis of charred wood, grain and fruit in several sediment layers revealed two major phases of copper processing, first in the 12th and 11th centuries, later in the 10th and 9th.

Khirbat en-Nahas is 30 miles from the Dead Sea and 30 miles north of Petra, Jordan's most famous archaeological site. The name means "ruins of copper" in Arabic. One of the first ancient occupation sites in the Edomite lowlands to be intensively investigated, the ruins of its buildings and grounds spread over 24 acres, and the fortifications enclose an area 240 by 240 feet.

"Only a complex society such as a paramount chiefdom or primitive kingdom would have the organizational know-how to produce copper metal on such an industrial scale," Dr. Levy concluded.

The first results of the research by Dr. Levy and Mohammad Najjar, director of excavations and surveys at the Department of Antiquities of Jordan, were described two years ago at a conference at the University of Oxford, England, and in a report in the British journal Antiquity. Reverberations of support and criticism have shaken the field of biblical archaeology ever since.

With the addition of new dates and more evidence of the importance of copper in the emergence of Edom, the two archaeologists have amplified their interpretations in an article being published this month in the magazine Biblical Archaeology Review.

"We have discovered a degree of social complexity in the land of Edom," they wrote, "that demonstrates the weak reed on the basis of which a number of scholars have scoffed at the idea of a state or complex chiefdom in Edom at this early period."

The findings, Dr. Levy and Dr. Najjar added, lend credence to biblical accounts of the rivalry between Edom and the Israelites in what was then known as Judah. By extension, they said, this supported the tradition that Judah itself had by the time of David and Solomon, in the early 10th century, emerged as a kingdom with ambition and the means of fighting off the Edomites.

The Hebrew Bible mentioned the Edomites no fewer than 99 times. In Genesis, Esau, Jacob's twin brother, is described as the ancestor of the Edomites, and a reference is made to "the kings who reigned in the land of Edom, before any king reigned over the Israelites." Dr. Levy said this statement showed that the Israelites acknowledged Edom's early political development.

In the context, Dr. Levy and Dr. Najjar wrote, "the biblical references to the Edomites, especially their conflicts with David and subsequent Judahite kings, garner a new plausibility."

Historians and archaeologists who generally endorse the new findings welcomed the more precise dating of ruins in the under-explored region and the attention focused on copper production in Edomite history. But they cautioned against interpretations that might encourage uncritical reliance on the Bible as a source of early history.

Most criticism has come from advocates of a "low chronology" or "minimalist" school of early biblical history. They contend that in David's time Edom was a pastoral society, and Judah not much more advanced. In this view, ancient Israel did not develop into a true state until the eighth century B.C., a century and a half after David.

More widely held in recent years is the estimate that Edom did not become a complex society and kingdom until the eighth or seventh centuries, presumably as a consequence of rule by the Assyrian empire.

Israel Finkelstein, an archaeologist at Tel Aviv University and a leading proponent of the low-chronology model, has said the new research does "not shed new light on the question of state formation in Edom." He argues that perhaps the copper operations were controlled by chieftains in Beersheba, to the west, and supplied material for urban centers west and north of Edom.

Dr. Levy and Dr. Najjar said their excavations showed that "this image of external control is not convincing."

Piotr Bienkowski of the University of Manchester, England, and Eveline van der Steen of East Carolina University in Greenville, N.C., who have excavated the Edomite highlands, criticized the statistical analysis of the new dating and suggested that the data had been used to support an unjustified interpretation.

"One 'fortress' does not make a kingdom," they argued in a paper. Dr. Levy said the most advanced statistical methods were applied in analyzing the radiocarbon dates, and the laboratory work was conducted at Oxford and the University of Groningen, the Netherlands.

"We realize that our work is far from complete, " Dr. Levy said, and a large team from the University of California will return this fall to Khirbat en-Nahas for a deeper look into the early history of the Edomites.

[Shammu]

Can it be true, that they found pieces of Noahs Ark??

Noah’s Ark, Pieces Intact, Found in Iran by Bible Explorers -

Wash—June 14—KIN—On June 5th, Bible Historian and explorer Bob Cornuke led an expedition of 15 geologists, historians, archeologists, scientists and attorneys on an exhausting mission 13,300 feet above sea level to locate and document the tremendous sections of what is thought to be Noah’s Ark located in the Ararat mountain range six hours North of Tehran, Iran. It had been essentially buried beneath the preservation of glaciers until last year when Iran recorded the hottest year on record which melted some of the snowcap revealing 450 by 75-foot footprint of the “object.”

Noah’s Ark was claimed to be found in Northern Iran rather than Turkey. Over a thousand expeditions had previously scoured Turkey’s Mt. Ararat, but by following the precise language of the Bible, Cornuke found what is believed to be Noah’s Ark, nearly in tact. Turkey’s Mt. Ararat was incorrect because Marco Polo named the large mountain during his journeys in the 13th century. Through mapping scriptures in Genesis with ancient maps, Cornuke pieced together the clues and found where the Ararat Mountain Range made home for Noah’s Ark in Northern Iran not far from Turkey. Bob Cornuke has been at the center of several controversies over his past findings as he has come at odds with secular scholars, but several people who I know personally were on this expedition as well as some credible, internationally known heads of Christian ministries. Cornuke and the participants are careful to not say emphatically that they found Noah’s Ark, but have taken extensive documentation to present their facts for both the public, and the Biblical and scientific communities.

After crawling on hands and knees miles above the earth’s surface in four below zero weather, the expedition found an altar, which could very well be the altar Noah built because it was made from the same materials they later found in the Ark. They found grapevines over two inches think in the area, of which the DNA from the grapes is the oldest known to man. Genesis 9:20 says that Noah planted a vineyard. But most amazing was the ark itself. It was found in sections, somewhat like a house that had collapsed over the years. Sections of petrified wood 12 to 14 feet high and 40 feet long were found. They found a huge pile of timber, thought to be floors or walls, in four-to-six foot sections.

Geologists took nine samples of the ark under the strict eye of a video team for analysis by the Smithsonian Institute. Over 23,000 feet of video was taken and will be released to the public. You can get your first glimpse of it on Fox News with John Kasich Saturday at 8:00pm Eastern time, according to the Cornuke team. The expedition members hope to spark debate over the Ark; hope to show that the Bible is accurate and true; and hope that people will come to know Christ through the truth that they have revealed. In John 8:32, Jesus said, “And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” May you be revived and energized by the possibility of this wonderful discovery that there is one God and His truth reigns forever.

Noah’s Ark, Pieces Intact, Found  in Iran by Bible Explorers -

[ibTina]

Can it be true, that they found pieces of Noahs Ark??

Noah’s Ark, Pieces Intact, Found in Iran by Bible Explorers -

Wash—June 14—KIN—On June 5th, Bible Historian and explorer Bob Cornuke led an expedition of 15 geologists, historians, archeologists, scientists and attorneys on an exhausting mission 13,300 feet above sea level to locate and document the tremendous sections of what is thought to be Noah’s Ark located in the Ararat mountain range six hours North of Tehran, Iran. It had been essentially buried beneath the preservation of glaciers until last year when Iran recorded the hottest year on record which melted some of the snowcap revealing 450 by 75-foot footprint of the “object.”

Noah’s Ark was claimed to be found in Northern Iran rather than Turkey. Over a thousand expeditions had previously scoured Turkey’s Mt. Ararat, but by following the precise language of the Bible, Cornuke found what is believed to be Noah’s Ark, nearly in tact. Turkey’s Mt. Ararat was incorrect because Marco Polo named the large mountain during his journeys in the 13th century. Through mapping scriptures in Genesis with ancient maps, Cornuke pieced together the clues and found where the Ararat Mountain Range made home for Noah’s Ark in Northern Iran not far from Turkey. Bob Cornuke has been at the center of several controversies over his past findings as he has come at odds with secular scholars, but several people who I know personally were on this expedition as well as some credible, internationally known heads of Christian ministries. Cornuke and the participants are careful to not say emphatically that they found Noah’s Ark, but have taken extensive documentation to present their facts for both the public, and the Biblical and scientific communities.

After crawling on hands and knees miles above the earth’s surface in four below zero weather, the expedition found an altar, which could very well be the altar Noah built because it was made from the same materials they later found in the Ark. They found grapevines over two inches think in the area, of which the DNA from the grapes is the oldest known to man. Genesis 9:20 says that Noah planted a vineyard. But most amazing was the ark itself. It was found in sections, somewhat like a house that had collapsed over the years. Sections of petrified wood 12 to 14 feet high and 40 feet long were found. They found a huge pile of timber, thought to be floors or walls, in four-to-six foot sections.

Geologists took nine samples of the ark under the strict eye of a video team for analysis by the Smithsonian Institute. Over 23,000 feet of video was taken and will be released to the public. You can get your first glimpse of it on Fox News with John Kasich Saturday at 8:00pm Eastern time, according to the Cornuke team. The expedition members hope to spark debate over the Ark; hope to show that the Bible is accurate and true; and hope that people will come to know Christ through the truth that they have revealed. In John 8:32, Jesus said, “And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” May you be revived and energized by the possibility of this wonderful discovery that there is one God and His truth reigns forever.

Noah’s Ark, Pieces Intact, Found  in Iran by Bible Explorers -

   I have to admit, this is exciting news...I hope it is IT!!!  I hope I don't forget to watch the news on FOX on Sat.

    God Bless...Tina

[Soldier4Christ]

I'll be watching for sure.

[Shammu]

I'll be watching as well, it suprised me PR you didn't have this posted, already.

[Soldier4Christ]

I'll be watching as well, it suprised me PR you didn't have this posted, already.

me, too   

[Shammu]

Tomb raider leads Italy police to ancient paintings

By Robin Pomeroy 46 minutes ago

FORMELLO, Italy (Reuters) - Italy unveiled on Friday a new archaeological site that some experts say houses the oldest paintings in the history of Western civilization.

Paintings on the wall of an ancient tomb near the
central Italian town of Formello June 16, 2006. (Italian Ministry of Culture/Handout/Reuters)

Italy's culture minister took reporters to an unremarkable field outside Rome under which they were shown a room carved into the hillside, decorated with colorful frescoes which archaeologists said were 2,700 years old.

"It's a prince's tomb that is unique, and I would say is at the origins of Western art," said Minister Francesco Rutelli, standing on what, until two weeks ago when the site was found, was just a field of barley.

Authorities were led to the spot -- in an area known for its remains from the Etruscan civilization that thrived in Italy before the Roman Empire -- by an 82-year-old Austrian tour guide who police were questioning for looting ancient artifacts.

Archaeologists were amazed at what they found once the earth was removed -- a large, square room, with niches that would once have stored cremated remains, remnants of a bright red painted ceiling and colored frescoes of birds and roaring lions.

"There are thousands of tombs here," said Francesca Boitani, a culture ministry archaeologist, pointing to the rolling hills north of Rome which were once home to the Etruscan city of Veia.

"But this one, it's the pictures that that are stunning. They give a sense of the primitive."

It is the primitive nature of the paintings that has convinced the experts that they are at least a generation older than any others yet found -- dating from 700-680 BC.

OLDEST

Giovanni Colonna, a professor at Rome's Sapienza University, said although the frescoes were not as old as Egyptian art or some cave paintings, they had to be the oldest examples of the Western tradition of art that was then developed by the Greek and Roman civilizations.

Fragments of decorated pottery found in the tomb, and the clearly visible remnants of a wheel which once was part of a cart buried along with the bodies, indicate the burial site was that of a nobleman or prince.

In Etruscan art, the birds would have symbolized the passage between life and death and the lions represented the underworld.

While art historians salivate at the finding, it illustrated two serious problems for Italy -- the constantly rising cost of excavating and managing ancient treasures and the fight against organized criminals who plunder the country's heritage.

Ironically, police were led to the "Roaring Lions" site by a tomb raiding suspect who hoped to receive lenient treatment.

Tomb raider leads Italy police to ancient paintings

[Soldier4Christ]

11,000-year-old grain shakes up beliefs on beginnings of agriculture

Bar-Ilan University researchers have found a cache of 120,000 wild oat and 260,000 wild barley grains at the Gilgal archaeological site near Jericho that date back 11,000 years - providing evidence of cultivation during the Neolithic Period.

The research, performed by Drs. Ehud Weiss and Anat Hartmann of BIU's department of Land of Israel studies and Prof. Mordechai Kislev of the faculty of life sciences, appears in the June 16 edition of the prestigious journal Science.

It is the second time in two weeks that Kislev and Hartmann have had an article in Science. They recently wrote about their discovery of 10,000-year-old cultivated figs at the same Jordan Valley site.

According to the researchers, the newest find shows that the transition from nomadic food gathering and the beginning of agriculture were quite different than previously thought. Until now, the general assumption has been that agriculture was begun by a single line of human efforts in one specific area. But the BIU researchers found a much more complicated effort undertaken by different human populations in different regions, drawing a completely new picture of the origins of agriculture.

Agriculture, the BIU researchers suggest, originated through human manipulations of wild plants - sometimes involving the same species - that took place in various spatially and temporally distinct communities. Moreover, some of these occasions were found to be much earlier than previously thought possible.

The researchers analyzed archeo-botanical data from Near Eastern archeological sites to locate human attempts to grow early crops. Several plant species, which they term "pioneer crops," were found to be the earliest plants manipulated by humans. Some of these attempts succeeded, which means that domestication and continuity were achieved, while others were abandoned. They offer a model of a pioneer agriculture with its disappointments and achievements.

They were certain that the grains found at Gilgal were cultivated and not found naturally in the environment because they were found in such large quantities and because field observations showed that only moderate amounts could be gathered from natural growing sites in this part of the Jordan Valley, even in rainy years.

Although pioneer crops such as barley, lentils, rye and oats yielded satisfactory crops, early farmers faced the problem that their seeds would fall off immediately after ripening. One way to solve this problem was through domestication (causing a process by which plants would retain their seeds, rather than shedding them, to facilitate collection by farmers).

But the researchers found that not all crops were easily domesticated, causing our ancestors, the researchers maintain, to abandon certain crops (such as oats) for thousands of years, until different farmers in other parts of the world finally domesticated them.

This new hypothesis turns the spotlight on the peoples who were involved in creating a revolutionary new agricultural way of life. According to the researchers, it was not a particular individual or community who changed the way we live our lives today, but rather many human groups scattered throughout the world who manipulated several different local wild plants. Some of these groups failed in their attempts and some succeeded. Some plants were domesticated and some were abandoned.

Moreover, some of the plants abandoned during the Neolithic Period were later domesticated in other parts of the world. Barley and, most likely, oats, were cultivated in the Jordan Valley, represented by the early Neolithic site Gilgal.

However, domesticated oats appeared some seven thousand years later in Europe, several thousand kilometers away. Another domesticated plant - rye - was found to be cultivated by several Turkish communities, from the Neolithic Period onward, for several millennia. Some of these communities even succeeded in domesticating rye, but they apparently abandoned it. Rye apparently traveled from Turkey to Europe in the form of a weed that grew in fields of barley and wheat. As in the case of oats, the last stage of rye domestication occurred not in Turkey but in Europe, and several thousands of years later.

The wild lentil plant's path of domestication comprised two stages: loss of dormancy (most of the seeds do not germinate in the first year) and development of pod indehiscence (pods that do not spontaneously release their seeds). The researchers noted that the first evidence of lentil domestication - loss of dormancy - was found in the beginning of the Neolithic Period in Jerf el-Ahmar, Syria, and quickly spread south to Netiv Hagdud in the Jordan Valley.

Undoubtedly, the final stage of lentil domestication is represented by the huge, approximately 1.4 million lentil seed hoard found in later Neolithic Period Yiftah'el, near Nazareth, some 600 kilometers southwest of Jerf el-Ahmar.

According to the researchers, a similar phenomenon occurred in North America, where the chenopod, marsh elder, squash and sunflower became domesticated under indigenous group management between 4,000 and 5,000 years ago. The erect knotweed, little barley and maygrass were cultivated and later abandoned, eventually to be replace by maize-centered agriculture and the arrival of the common bean.

[nChrist]

AMEN!

These reports are getting more exciting by the day. I can't help but wonder if GOD is giving mankind a message. The message is obvious: the Bible is GOD'S WORD and is the complete truth. All people, the saved and the lost, need to read and study the HOLY BIBLE right now, every day! For the saved, we might be given the best opportunities we've ever had to witness to the lost. For the lost, the Ultimate TRUTH is the HOLY BIBLE, and the GOOD NEWS it contains will set them FREE for eternity.

I hope and pray that all of God's children will take every opportunity God gives us to tell everyone about the HOPE that is within us. For many of us, that HOPE is so strong that it is absolute REALITY and all doubt is gone. This may be a time of great labor, but it may also be a time of great JOY in JESUS. We should pray for guidance and strength to go forward to do HIS WILL. We know that many will still reject our Lord and Saviour JESUS CHRIST, but we shouldn't become discouraged. Many will hear, believe, and ask JESUS CHRIST to become the LORD over their lives. All of the effort will be worth it for just one, but we already know there will be many and GOD'S WORD never returns void.

Love in Christ,
Tom

Romans 10:16-17 NASB  However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, "LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT?" So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

Hebrews 12:1-2 NASB  Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Romans 8:28 NASB  And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

Romans 4:20-21 NASB  yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform.

Ephesians 5:19-20 NASB  speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father;

[Shammu]

These reports are getting more exciting by the day. I can't help but wonder if GOD is giving mankind a message. The message is obvious: the Bible is GOD'S WORD and is the complete truth. All people, the saved and the lost, need to read and study the HOLY BIBLE right now, every day! For the saved, we might be given the best opportunities we've ever had to witness to the lost. For the lost, the Ultimate TRUTH is the HOLY BIBLE, and the GOOD NEWS it contains will set them FREE for eternity.

Brother, God is trying to get these folks attention, least I feel He is.  My message this sunday, is about  these recent archaeological finds., and how they relate in the Bible.  That we can use this as a witnessing tool.

[nChrist]

Brother Bob,

I think that would be a fascinating sermon, and I would love to be there to hear it.

I do honestly believe that many Christians take the HOLY BIBLE for granted and don't realize what an amazing Book of FACTS it is. Other than that, the BIBLE is a beautiful "How TO" Manual from the CREATOR Himself.

Love in Christ,
Tom

Hebrews 7:18-19 NASB  For, on the one hand, there is a setting aside of a former commandment because of its weakness and uselessness (for the Law made nothing perfect), and on the other hand there is a bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.

[Soldier4Christ]

That does sound like a wonderful sermon.

Yes the Bible is full of amazing facts. It is an excellant history book, science book, literature book, it teaches about the law and so many many more things above all it shows us about our Saviour and the importance of coming to Him.

[Soldier4Christ]

The Book of Isaiah under the sands of Egypt


The archaeological mystery has been solved! The latest research shows that the manuscript found by Polish archaeologists in the village of Gourna (Sheikh abd el-Gourna) near Luxor in Upper Egypt contains the entire biblical book of Isaiah in the Coptic translation. “This is the first complete translation of this book in Coptic” – says Prof. Ewa Wipszycka-Bravo of the Institute of Archaeology at Warsaw University.

In February last year, Tomasz Górecki heading the Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology at the Warsaw University mission in Gourna, made a unique find in the rubbish heap of a monastery. It consisted of two papyrus books in leather covers and a collection of parchment sheets bound by two bits of wood. This was the first discovery of Coptic manuscripts in Egypt since 1952, which are well preserved and supported by a well-researched archaeological context.


One of the books is the “Code of Pseudo-Basili” – the only preserved full text in Coptic, which is a collection of rules regulating Church life. The other contains the life of St. Pistentios, one of the Coptic bishops. Both texts date back to the 7th/8th centuries.


The books are under conservation in the National Museum in Alexandria and only then will the full text be known, says Górecki.  However, their character and content are already known.


Identifying the third manuscript was much harder. An untitled collection of 50 richly decorated parchment sheets written in Coptic, bound by two pieces of wood. The Polish archaeologists turned to researchers from the University of Rome to help decipher the texts. Prof. Wipszycka-Bravo says that Tito Orlandi, who reads Coptic documents like most people read a newspaper, has pronounced them to be the book of Isaiah. Many fragments of this book have already been found, but never the whole book.


The wooden planks binding the books were supported by parchment from old texts, one a known apocrypha – “The suffering of St. Peter”, another religious text and tax bills – the professor explains.


It is still not known how these books reached the hermitage. According to specialists, they must have been written in distant scriptoriums. Moreover, an Italian expert dates the book from the 9th-10th centuries, which makes them more recent than the other books.


“The hermitage was abandoned at the beginning of the 8th century, so the parchment could not have belonged to the monks in Gourna. Who brought them there if no Christians were there anymore remains a mystery” – says Prof. Wipszycka-Bravo.


On being transported to Gourna, the books were dumped on the rubbish heap, presumably by the Arabs after chasing out the Christians.

[Soldier4Christ]

1,000 skeletons found in Rome catacombs

ARCHAELOGISTS exploring one of Rome's oldest catacombs have discovered more than 1,000 skeletons dressed in elegant togas.

Experts are thrilled by the find - which dates from about the first century - as it is the first "mass burial" of its kind identified. Mystery surrounds why so many bodies were neatly piled together in the complex network of underground burial chambers, which stretch for miles under the city.

It was the custom then for Rome's upper classes to be burnt not buried, so it is thought the skeletons may be early Christians. Tests are being carried to establish whether they suffered violent death or were victims of an unknown epidemic or natural disaster.

Raffaella Giuliani, chief inspector of the Vatican's Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology, who is overseeing the dig, said: "What we have discovered is very exciting. Usually, two or three bodies were put into holes dug out of the rock in the catacombs. But we have several rooms filled with skeletons.

"The skeletons were dressed in fine robes, many of which had gold thread in them, and they were wrapped in sheets and covered with lime.

"This was quite common with early Christian burials, as it was a form of hygiene, and the corpses were also anointed with balsamic spices. Again, this all shows a great amount of dignity and respect given to the dead."

There are several catacombs beneath Rome dating back 2,000 years and they were used as burial places by early Christians. They were also used as secret places of worship as the pagan Romans persecuted Christians, famously feeding them to lions in the Colosseum.

The discovery was made at the Catacomb of St Peter and Marcellinus on the ancient Via Labicana in the south-east of Rome. Ms Giuliani added: "We are trying to establish whether the skeletons were buried there following some form of epidemic or natural disaster.

"Initial examinations do not appear to show any violent trauma, but we cannot rule this out.

"It is possible they could have been persecuted and killed by the Romans and then buried there by fellow Christians - we just don't know."

Professor Andrew Wallace Hadrill, director of the British School in Rome which specialises in ancient history, added: "The fact that the skeletons were dressed in expensive togas is very unusual and would point to the fact that we are talking about the upper classes of ancient Rome.

"At that time, Rome had a population of one million - it is possible that these people were killed by an illness of which we know nothing about."

It was not until the third century that Christianity was officially recognised as a religion and as such during the Medieval Ages it was customary for pilgrims heading to Rome to stop at catacombs and pray for the souls of these early Christians, many of whom had been killed because of their religion.